I Grew Up Thinking They were Couples...

Till I came to know the difference between screen couples and the real ones.

Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen, both have late infront of their names now, but to a Bengali household, they still are arrive through the days of black and grey! One of Indian Cinemas most successful pair, Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen were no less than the on-screen Romeo and Juliet. Those days were really funny for the young mind of mine. Then, in the 80's and the early 90's, spiked antennas used to capture the feeds from Doordarshan, where every Sunday would mean a Bengali Matinee showtime and of the four Sundays of a month, two movies would be a Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen starrer. Back then too, my mind used to believe them gods; because they popped up into your room from thin air and with the spiked antenna being on the roof top and with the unusual commotion when the wind would propel it off it's position; my dad would jump atop the fence to fix them. I believes that they ought to be coming from the skies; which to me was heaven! So God! The "Godly Couple" or "amar-jooti" (as in Bengali means Eternal Pair)

But things became clearer with the age growing up the steps. Mrs. Sen passed away on 17.01.14, just moving up the stair of age; her age being 83 years at death. When Uttam Kumar died; I never was there. In fact wasn't born even. But I have seen his last film the most: Ogo Badhu Sudari, being one of my most favorite Bengali movie. The other half of this eternal pair passed on last Friday.

In the modern world of cosmetics, where your real skin tone is not understood, Mrs. Sen was a fairy out of the blues. Her eyes, brows, smile... all measured proportion, donated by God to the mesmerizing human soul, rarely walking on this planet. Not bacause of her celebrity status, she was kind and generous; as people used to say or hear may be. I say hear, because no one has seen her after her age of 48 years, when she acted in her last film Pranoy Pasha in 1978.

But, with the several co-actors spinning around each other, Uttam and Suchitra were complimentary and some characters wouldn't have got so lively without them playing it! But, the chemistry was strictly onscreen, unlike others like Tracy and Hepburn, who married off; a news hidden from public for over decades.

To the beauty, its my final sentence...

I knew your name as a Brand of Bengali Cinema and definition of Beauty, R.I.P Rina Brown.... R.I.P Mrs. Sen; letting your aura mesmerize all, for-ever!